Heroin worth Rs 1,300 crore seized from container near Kandla port in Gujarat

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is said to have seized a consignment of heroin weighing 260 kg worth over Rs 1,300 crore at Kandla port in the Kutch district.

The narcotics consignment declared as gypsum powder is reported to have originated from Iran and was lying at a private container freight station (CFS).

“The consignment had arrived a few days ago and was under DRI scanner. However, the central agency was clueless about the consignment of heroin hidden in the container declared as carrying gypsum powder. Gujarat ATS developed an intelligence input and shared it with DRI which resulted in the seizure of 260 kg of heroin,” a source involved in the operation said.

DRI officials have refused to divulge any information regarding the operation while ATS officials said that the operation was being handled by the DRI. Sources said that the consignment declared as gypsum powder had been brought from Bandar Abbas port in Iran by a firm identified as Balaji traders.

“Prima facie, the narcotics seems to have originated from Afghanistan and Bandar Abbas port was used to douse suspicion as in the recent past several such consignments have been caught by DRI and ATS officials,” a source said. The past few years have seen a rise in the smuggling of narcotics through Gujarat ports including Kandla and Mundra.

Last year, DRI busted the country’s biggest smuggling attempt by seizing a whopping 3,000 kg of heroin worth over Rs 20,000 crore from Mundra port. The consignment had arrived from Afghanistan. The case is now being probed by the National Investigation Agency.

Since August 2018, Gujarat ATS has seized about 920 kg of drugs, worth Rs 4,600 crore in international markets and arrested dozens of Pakistani, Iranian and Afghan nationals along with their Indian handlers.

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